Nature and Garden Haiku – Short and Sweet Poems to Brighten Your Day 

Summers are amazing in Corvallis, sunshine, blue skies, warm days, and cool nights. Gardens are flourishing and we celebrate the outdoors, but with COVID worries, social distancing, mask wearing, and having to limit visits with family and friends, you and your family might be going a little stir crazy, just like me! But one morning, watching with awe as a hummingbird darted in and out of my sprinkler,the word “haiku” popped into my head as a way to capture this magical and fleeting moment. A haiku (high-coo) is a specific type of Japanese poem that traditionally contains 17 syllables,written in 3 lines following a 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable pattern, often with nature or seasonal themes.

"Beautiful jewel (5), Delicate water dancer (7) Hummingbird morning gift (5)"

One of most famous Japanese haiku poets, Basho, popularized this form of poetry in the 17th Century. In the 1940’s – 1950’s, haiku flourished in the U.S. with the “Beat Poets”including Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Snyder. The haiku poetry form is very accessible to students: you focus on descriptive and sensory words, verbs,adjectives, nouns, and there’s no rhyming pattern or punctuation. Drop the “is”,“and”, “the”, and hone in on the essence of what you are seeing in the moment.Write haikus as a family to remember highlights from a hike, camping trip, or what you observe in your garden and yard. Add a drawing, a photo, give them as gifts,collaborate, challenge yourself to write a haiku a week, hang them in a tree, post them online! Keep it light-hearted and don’t get hung up on the details. Celebrate summer with haiku happiness all you Corvallis poets! FMI check out this link:  https://iaforhaikuaward.org/what-is-a-haiku/. My friends jumped into the haiku challenge and came up with these poetic gems:

"Two crows are cawing, Nature in a parking lot, Urban wilderness"

"Sweet Hummingbird flies high, Seemingly effortless yet, Nature knows better"

"Three lovely 'matoes, What a precious use of time, This is gardening"

Be on the lookout for􏰀.. European Shot Hole Borer!!

Trees in the Willamette Valley are susceptible to a variety of pests and pathogens. One that has caught our eye in recent years is European Shothole Borer or Pear blight beetle (Anisandrus dispar). This species, which used to be called Xyleborus dispar until recently, is an exotic from Eurasia and was probably brought to North America by the earliest European settlers and the fruit trees they brought with them.  In the past, it was a significant pest of fruit orchards, delighting in the name “pear blight beetle”. Now, these beetles attack a host of other fruit and shade trees. This beetle overwinters in a suitable host and, on one of the first warm days of spring, attack host trees that exhibit signs of stress. Once the female beetle finds a suitable host, she will send out a pheromone that attracts hundreds of additional beetles, killing the tree very quickly. 

 

Management: Since this beetle attacks stressed trees, it’s imperative to keep your trees as healthy as possible! Trees that are drought-stricken, water logged, or have root and basal damage are much more attractive to this beetle.  

If you suspect your street tree has these beetles, or for more information,

Jennifer Killian
Urban Forestry and Natural Areas Specialist Jennifer.killian@corvallisoregon.gov 541-740-3186

From Civic Beautification and Urban Forestry Advisory Group Meetings: 2nd Thursday of the month from 9-10:30am www.corvallisoregon.gov/bc-cbufdac

 

Help with Vegetable Gardens

The Pandemic hit – I stayed home, planted a vegetable garden and now I need some help

Overcrowding When you planted your seeds or seedlings, they were so small that you may have planted too many of them or placed them too close together.  As the weather warms up, the plants have really started growing very fast.  Even veteran gardeners are astonished how fast vegetables grow this time of year.

Try staking up plants that are overshadowing their neighbors and thinning plants like lettuce, kale and chard – either by harvesting leaves to use that evening or by harvesting every other plant in your row to give the remaining plants room to grow.

Have too much to eat?  See a new way to donate your excess produce on the sidebar on the right.

Harvesting How do I know my vegetables are ready to pick?  Many new gardeners wait too long to harvest.  Pick snow peas and beans every day or every other day.  Cut broccoli heads before they start to flower, even if the heads are smaller than the ones in the grocery store.  They will grow side shoots that are also great to eat.  Once your radishes, lettuce, chard, or kale start to flower, it’s time to pull them up and plant again.  

Corvallis Backyard CSA

Have more produce from your garden than your family can eat, especially after you’ve thinned your crowded plants?  Consider donating to the Corvallis Backyard CSA whose mission is inclusion for all people in Corvallis.  It does this by delivering produce boxes to families from different cultures (Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American) while building mutually supportive relationships with these families.  Contact Sandie Cheung  sandi.cheung@gmail.com to find out how you can drop off produce that will be added to the CSA boxes.  The boxes are delivered to families every Thursday.   

Interested in learning how else you can support the Corvallis Backyard CSA?  Contact Rachel Barnhart for more information at rachel@shonnards.com or text/call at 503-779-8570.  

                                                                                  

Diversity and Gardening

Decades of research tell us that gardens are stronger with more diversity. This is true for gardening programs as well. The Benton County Master Gardener Association is committed to working towards greater racial justice and equity and in the coming weeks and months will be developing and discussing a plan of action for even greater diversity, equity, and inclusion within its program.


Diversity of garden cultures

Here are some resources that we are using to understand and celebrate the diversity of experiences and views that can shape and enhance our gardens:

Books:

• Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman

• The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience, and Farming by Natasha Bowens.

• Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage by Dianne D. Glave.

• The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham

• My Garden by Jamaica Kincaid.

Web resources:

• TED TAlk by Ron Finley: A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA

  Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzZzZ_qpZ4w&feature=youtu.be

• agrowingculture.org

Diversity of flora and fauna

Here are ways that you can welcome a diversity of life into your garden:

• Incorporate a water feature: Adding water to your garden makes it attractive to birds and wildlife and can provide habitat for a whole new palate of plants that attract a range of aquatic wildlife, such as frogs, dragonflies and fish.

• Add a log, rock pile, or snag: A pile of logs or rocks can provide a home for beneficial snakes and frogs. When not in danger of causing harm to buildings or humans, a dead tree (called a snag) can be retained as a home for woodpeckers and other creatures and provides a good perch for hawks and owls.

• Limit the use of pesticides: A biodiverse garden usually has fewer problems with pests as it is welcoming to beneficial birds and insects that keep pests under control. Don’t jeopardize their activity by using pesticides in ways that can harm these beneficial helpers.

From Benton County Master Gardeners -
Membership meetings: 3rd Monday Oct. to May 7:00pm - currently on Zoom